Ezra Reads the Law

8 And all the people gathered as one person at the public square which was in front of ^(A)the Water Gate, and they ^[a]asked ^(B)Ezra the scribe to bring ^(C)the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had ^[b]given to Israel. ² Then ^(D)Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men, women, and all who could listen with understanding, on ^(E)the first day of the seventh month. ³ And he read from it before the public square which was in front of ^(F)the Water Gate, from ^[c]early morning until midday, in the presence of men and women, those who could understand; and ^[d]all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

⁵ Then Ezra opened ^(A)the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people ^(B)stood up. ⁶ Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, “^(C)Amen, Amen!” with the raising of their hands; then ^(D)they kneeled down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

⁸ They read from the book, from the Law of God, ^[a]translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.

This Day Is Holy

⁹ Then Nehemiah, who was the ^[b](A)governor, and Ezra ^(B)the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “^(C)This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^(D)do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and ^(E)send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your ^[c]refuge.”

¹² For just ^(A)as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, ^(B)so also is Christ. ¹³ For ^[a](C)by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether ^(D)Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to ^(E)drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For ^(F)the body is not one part, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason ^[b]any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason ^[c]any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has ^(G)arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, ^(H)just as He desired. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now ^(I)there are many parts, but one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, ^[d]it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; ²³ and those parts of the body which we ^[e]consider less honorable, ^[f]on these we bestow greater honor, and our less presentable parts become much more presentable, ²⁴ whereas our more presentable parts have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked, ²⁵ so that there may be no ^[g]division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is ^[h]honored, all the parts rejoice with it.

²⁷ Now you are ^(J)Christ’s body, and ^(K)individually parts of it. ²⁸ And God has ^[i](L)appointed in ^(M)the church, first ^(N)apostles, second ^(O)prophets, third ^(P)teachers, then ^[j](Q)miracles, then ^(R)gifts of healings, helps, ^(S)administrations, and various ^(T)kinds of tongues. ²⁹ All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of ^[k]miracles, are they? ³⁰ All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not ^(U)interpret, do they? ³¹ But ^(V)earnestly desire the greater gifts.

And yet, I am going to show you a far better way.

Jesus’ Public Ministry

¹⁴ And ^(A)Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and ^(B)news about Him spread through all the surrounding region. ¹⁵ And He began ^(C)teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶ And He came to ^(D)Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, ^(E)He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and ^(F)stood up to read. ¹⁷ And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

²⁰ And He ^(I)rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and ^(J)sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. ²¹ Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your ^[a]hearing.”